Xylose-Inducible Promoter Tools for Pseudomonas Species and Their Use in Implicating a Role for the Type II Secretion System Protein XcpQ in the Inhibition of Corneal Epithelial Wound Closure

Abstract

Pseudomonas species are enormously important in human infections, in biotechnology, and as model systems for investigating basic science questions. In this study, we have developed a xylose-inducible promoter system, evaluated it in P. aeruginosa and P. fluorescens , and found it to be suitable for the strong induction of gene expression. Furthermore, we have demonstrated its efficacy in controlled gene expression to show that a type II secretion system protein from P. aeruginosa , XcpQ, is important for host-pathogen interactions in a corneal wound closure model.